


Unstoppable Force vs. Immovable Object

by ofhauntings



Category: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Bullying, Gen, Lockwood & George meet for the first time, Speculation, george saves his ass, lockwood gets the shit kicked out of him, the usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 21:04:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12093402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofhauntings/pseuds/ofhauntings
Summary: Anthony Lockwood and George Cubbins... Unstoppable force versus immovable object.Who wins?….Well, Lockwood does... Obviously.But the interesting thing about it is *how,* right?





	Unstoppable Force vs. Immovable Object

Something no one seems to discuss is where exactly the infamous Lockwood & Company started. Even it’s two surviving founding members were tight lipped about the whole thing, and Lucy only knew enough to tell you that there had been a boy named Robin who’d met an unfortunate end before she’d been hired. 

His relationship to George and Lockwood? An absolute mystery, much like most of the company history before Lucy entered the picture, and for the most part, she understood why they wouldn’t want to talk about it. Hell, she had plenty of stories she’d never shared too, but there were times her curiosity was... piqued. Sometimes hints of their old lives poked through the secretive veils. 

To the outside observer, one might see the relationship between Anthony Lockwood and George Cubbins to be… strained. They bickered and argued and fought constantly. Lockwood would dismiss George’s enthusiasm for research, while George is constantly throwing shade under his breath in Lockwood’s direction--

\-- but don’t get it twisted. 

These boys are closer than blood. Especially when neither of them have a lot of blood to go around.

In the beginning, Anthony was just a kid with a dream and a vengance. As an orphan, raised by his mentor Gravedigger Sikes, he didn’t make out to be a normal kid. Never went to a traditional public school, never spent time with other kids (besides the kids he worked with), and was generally too distracted by learning how to be an Agent to care about anything else. 

George was a similar outlier on the fringe of his social circles. Having big glasses, a non-athletic body, and a nose that seemed to be either in a book or snooping where it didn’t belong didn’t exactly make you popular. Not that he cared in the slightest. If learning something cost a potential friend, that was a fair tradeoff in his book.

Unstoppable force versus immovable object. Who wins?

….

Well, Lockwood does... Obviously. 

But the interesting thing about it is how, right?

This is an account of a memory very few people remember, but Lockwood & Co. wouldn’t exist without.

 

\-------------------------

 

We open to the scene of a pasty white boy in a coat that’s way too big for him falling down and eating shit on the pavement.

Bloody nose, busted lip, pants ripped, and a line of blood dripping from somewhere above his hairline down his cheek-- this was not an unusual look for Anthony Lockwood. Even now, only 12 years old, he’d been in more than his fair share of fights. Usually he could take on a bully or two, but these ones had proven a little more…. tactical, this time around.

“Come on, Tony, had enough already? I thought you were going to put up a little more of a fight than that.” The bully teased, his equally big and burly friends guffawing at something that must have been their definition of a joke.

Lockwood took his time finding his footing again, pushing himself up slowly to his knees before dusting off his ruined, bloodstained shirt and adjusting his too-large coat collar before turning around and wiping the blood from his mouth with a lopsided smile. “Oh, I’m not done with you yet. I was just t-testing you.”

In his head, this was an extremely badass one-liner, but in reality the tears threatening to leak from his eyes were catching the sunlight more than the glint of his teeth, and the crack in his voice didn’t help the threat either. His chance a good one-liner was wasted and the bullies laughed even harder as they closed in, backing Anthony against a brick wall that caught the fibers of his coat like velcro. The leader of the bullies shook out the hand that had dealt the last punch, curling it back into a fist the size of Anthony’s face as he got so close Lockwood had to look up to meet his eyes. 

He was trapped.

“I think you’re plenty done, bud.”

The fist was raised, and Lockwood couldn’t stop himself from flinching as momentum brought it down--

“Hey!” A voice sounded beyond the wall of flesh Anthony was imprisoned by, causing everyone in the scene to freeze. A gap underneath his assailant's armpit revealed the voice to be from a short, pudgy, bespectacled boy from down the block. “If you’re going to beat a kid up, why not choose the one who looks like he deserves it.” A small wave of his hand indicates he’s talking about himself. Lockwood, still cowering in a defensive position, quickly glances up at the bullies, who now seem very confused. 

He holds back a quip to, for once, keep the spotlight off of him.

For a couple tense moments, the bullies take turns looking from doofus to doofus, the pudgy kid pushing up his glasses with a blank expression, as if he had much better things to do. 

“I’m uh-- pretty sure we have more than one fist between us.” He decided with a sinister grin. The fist that was frozen in the air comes down hard, knocking Anthony to the ground.

\--------------------------

A nasally voice brought him back out of the darkness of unconsciousness. 

“... Jesus, they really clocked you, huh.” Anthony came to slowly and groggily as the boy from earlier shook him awake. “Sorry, I really thought that’d work. Always does in the comics… I’m George, by the way.”

George had a blossoming black eye and bruised cheek, and his glasses sat askew on his nose. The bullies seemed long gone now, but they obviously hadn’t taken pity on the guy with glasses either.

“I had that under control.” Lockwood said, voice gravely. As his mind cleared he realized George had extended a hand to him, and he eyed it for a moment before grasping it and pulling himself up. He winced at the sudden rush of blood to his head.

“Obviously you didn’t.” George grumbled, looking Lockwood over. “And I think you got a concussion. What do you remember? Obviously not your name, or else you would have introduced yourself like pleasant human being.”

Lockwood chuckled, smirking one of his ‘I’ve-got-a-bloody-nose-and-black-eye-but-I’m-still-kicking’ smiles. “Lockwood. Anthony Lockwood.” He replied, shaking the hand he was still holding. “And I think I like you, George.”

**Author's Note:**

> Special thank you to Alex (@alexdoodles) for being my beta and taking the initiative to organize the Lockwood & Co. Big Bang!! She is amazing and has contributed so much to the fandom that I'm honored to have co-hosted the even with her <3
> 
> Also a special thank you to the artists, Julie (@astratastic) and Katsu (@katsu--done) for agreeing to do art for my fic!! 
> 
> See lockwoodandcobigbang.tumblr.com for more info on the Big Bang


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